A Dose Of Passion. Sharon C. Cooper
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big move, the challenges it would bring, raising Jason and getting acclimated to a new city, were at the forefront of his mind. Not only that, but he had started his freelance architecture business a few years earlier and it had recently taken off. Leaving Cincinnati to oversee Price Architecture was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but he hated that he had to subcontract out some of his own projects before coming to Atlanta.
Derek pulled into the extra-wide semicircular driveway and slowed before he reached the three-car garage. Noah had given the mansion that he’d lived in before passing away to his favorite charity. Derek couldn’t understand why he would purchase this home only to risk leaving it empty, considering he couldn’t have been sure Derek would agree to the relocation. Noah didn’t do anything without a reason, but this part of his will had Derek stumped.
His gaze fell back on the structure of his mini mansion. He couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across his lips. Noah definitely knew what Derek liked when it came to houses. Tudors were his favorite, but this colonial-like home was a little unique, with its wide Palladian window above the double burgundy front doors.
He drove farther up the driveway, stopping in front of one of the garage doors before cutting the engine. Part of him was excited about all of the changes to his life, but there was a twinge of anxiousness that spun inside his gut.
“Daddy, why did we stop?”
Derek turned to the backseat where his four-year-old son sat in his booster seat, playing a video game. Jason had been so quiet, Derek had momentarily forgotten he was there.
“This is our new home, son. Ready to check it out?” Derek stepped out and walked around the car to open Jason’s door, but his son didn’t budge. Neither of them was overly thrilled about leaving their home and family in Cincinnati, but together they were going to embrace this new chapter in their life. “Let’s go, kid.”
“Is Uncle Keith here? He said he was coming to my new house,” Jason asked as he slowly climbed out of the Mercedes ML63 SUV. Derek’s new assistant at Price had surprised him with the vehicle when they departed the plane. He now understood why she had asked him a series of questions the day he met with her. One question had been about his ideal car. Who knew the car of his dreams would be waiting for him? Supposedly, it was part of his benefits package.
“Daddy, is he coming?” Jason pulled Derek back to the present.
Just then, Keith Logan pulled up in a rented SUV that he was using until his car, which he’d had shipped to Atlanta, arrived. Keith parked next to Derek and climbed out of his vehicle.
“Hey, Uncle Keith!” Jason ran to his uncle, who lifted him up in the air. “What took you so long?”
Derek chuckled at his son’s enthusiasm. It was as if he hadn’t just seen Keith at the airport. They had arrived to Atlanta in style, flying on the company’s private jet, a first for all of them, one that Jason would be talking about for weeks.
So far, the relocation was going great. Since his brother was in the midst of a divorce and ready for a new start, Derek had invited him to Atlanta. Keith jumped at the opportunity. It was a win-win for both of them. Derek would get some help with Jason, and Keith had a potential job opportunity with Price Architecture.
“Looks like a nice neighborhood,” Keith said. They stood on the front stoop with suitcases, waiting for Derek to open the door. “A little bougie. So you ought to fit in perfectly.”
“Ha, ha, ha. Whatever.” Derek pushed the front door open and deactivated the alarm system using the keypad just inside the wide foyer. His brothers had always called him “bougie,” claiming he was stuck up despite growing up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Columbus.
Keith released a long whistle as the three of them stood in the foyer of their new home. Derek had to admit—it was a beauty. The semicircular staircase with ornamental wrought-iron railings and a chandelier made of the same material gave the space a rich, unique feel. A large area rug with a design and colors that pulled from the taupe walls and iron accents partially covered the dark hardwood floors. Whoever Noah had used to renovate the home had nailed his personal style.
“Dang, man, you said this place was big. Heck, it’s like three times the size of my house in Cincinnati. What’s the square footage?”
“Daddy, where is my room?” Jason started roaming around the empty lower level while Derek and Keith remained where they were.
“Upstairs, lil’ man. It’s the second room on the left.” Jason ran up the stairs and Derek wondered if he understood which room was his. “Oh, and to answer your question,” Derek said to Keith, “we’re working with over 3,500 square feet.” He picked up the luggage he had left near the front door. “Four bedrooms are upstairs and there are two you can choose from. I’m thinking I’ll use the one down here as a guest room.”
“I assumed I’d be getting the master bedroom,” Keith said with a straight face as they clumped up the carpeted stairs. Out of Derek’s four brothers, Keith was the laid-back one that kept the rest of them laughing and on their toes.
“And why would you assume that?” When they reached the top landing, they found Jason in the master bedroom. “Guess you’re out of luck, Keith. Looks like someone beat us to it.”
“Daddy, my room is big!” Jason said, trying to climb up on the king-size bed Derek had ordered weeks earlier and had delivered. With his assistant Louise’s help, he had ordered furniture for his and Jason’s bedrooms, as well as for the family room. He had everything delivered a couple of days earlier. Now they were just waiting for the movers to bring some of his furniture from his and Keith’s old houses, as well as a ton of boxes. Normally, Derek wouldn’t be looking forward to unpacking, but the movers had not only packed up everything for him, but they would also unload everything as well.
“Wrong room, kid.” Derek set his luggage near the closet. “Come on. I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
“Yay! I have two beds,” Jason said as he ran into the bedroom and climbed the steps to the top bunk. Since his son was into spaceships, Derek already had some ideas on how they would transform the area. “Look at my room, Uncle Keith.”
“Yeah, man. It’s big. A lot more space for all of your junk, I mean, your toys.” Keith laughed. He left them in Jason’s room to go in search of his own bedroom.
Derek stood at the single window looking out onto the front yard and street. He was slowly starting to warm up to the new life he was getting ready to dive into.
Change often comes with gifts, Noah had once said when he first found out about Derek’s ex-wife leaving him. At the time, the only gift Derek could see in the situation was Jason. Now that his life had recently been flipped upside down, albeit in a good way, Derek wondered if Noah had started making these plans even back then.
* * *
Hours later, Derek strolled outside and sat on one of the steps to his deck. Leaning back, his elbows propped up on the step behind him, he watched his son run around the yard, trying to get his kite to fly. To be young and carefree again. The boy had an endless amount of energy.
Derek closed his eyes and let the beaming sun warm his skin. Long morning. He could honestly say he was exhausted. The past few weeks had been unbelievably busy, and sleep every night hadn’t come easy. He couldn’t get his mind to slow down. He had so much to do, including finding a preschool program for his four-year-old son in less than a month. And then there was Macy.
Macy. The beautiful, sexy goddess with the long legs and bedroom eyes was sure to be the new bane of his existence. The little sleep he had gotten over the past few weeks included erotic dreams of her either in skimpy attire or nothing at all. He groaned just thinking about her full breasts and curvaceous body. Working on the medical complex with her was sure to prove to be the greatest challenge of the move. He hadn’t even started yet and already thoughts of her made a certain part of his anatomy jump to attention. Sitting next to her at the memorial service and then across from her in Drew’s office